YMMV / Venom: Let There Be Carnage

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• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • What is the cause of Cletus Kasady's homicidal behavior? Did being initially born stillborn and resuscitated via defibrillator result in some kind of brain damage? Was he broken by the abuse of his parents, grandmother, and the Orphanage of Fear he was sent to? Or is he just a Psychopathic Manchild who's just in it For the Evulz?
  • Due to the ambiguity of Shriek's past, did she commit some terrible crime to be sent to Ravencroft, or was she just imprisoned for having powers and years of being unjustly locked up that drove her crazy?
• Ass Pull:
  • Carnage's Hollywood Hacking abilities. While a Mythology Gag to the comics, at no point in this film or the previous one is it implied or shown that Symbiotes are able to interface with computers that easily.
  • Eddie and Venom inexplicably teleport into the Marvel Cinematic Universe at the end of the movie. What's more, they do so just in time to watch the news report of Spider-Man's identity reveal. Absolutely no explanation for this sudden twist are provided, even the characters are confused (Venom points out that he isn't the cause of what's going on, and was moments away from showing Eddie information about his species). Though it turned out it was actually linked to Spider-Man: No Way Home; considering Spider-Man and Doctor Strange messing with space-time is how villains like Doc Ock and Electro end up in the MCU, their spell apparently sucked Eddie and Venom into the MCU too, which turns out to be temporary since they're pulled back to their original world when the spell is undone.
  • Pat Mulligan surviving and seemingly being empowered, with his eyes turning blue. While those who know his comic self might have expected this, it's not at all explained on-screen, as there's never a moment that shows Pat absorbing a symbiote spawn. There's also the problem that the way this is displayed is so unclear, it's not even readily apparent he did get a symbiote or if he's gained some unrelated powers, especially as his eyes now resemble Shriek's rather than a symbiote's, so it could end up looking to viewers like his newfound powers were related to her trying to kill him.
• Badass Decay: Anne Weying. In the first movie, she managed to save Eddie by killing Drake's goon while bonding with Venom, and also being a Big Damn Heroes in the final fight against Riot. Here, not only that she barely does anything when bonded with Venom aside from freeing Eddie from custody (which isn't even that dire), but she's also captured during the final act, reducing her into your typical Damsel in Distress.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
  • Carnage suddenly displays the ability to generate a tornado during the prison break sequence, only for him to never use that ability again.
  • Ultimately, Pat Mulligan being shown to have survived Shriek's attack and possessing glowing eyes is this, coming totally out of left field. Even taking into account how his comic book counterpart became Toxin, there was nothing in the movie itself that foreshadowed him gaining powers, whether it was any remote hint of symbiote bonding, or taking on Shriek's abilities, since she seemingly killed him in a more mundane way unrelated to her superpower. Not to mention the narrative itself basically made Pat come off as both an Adaptational Jerkass and an Adaptational Wimp, so him being empowered at the very last second without any real buildup comes off as largely out-of-place.
• Complete Monster: The Carnage symbiote, after being born from a distillation of Eddie Brock/Venom's blood within the body of the psychotic murderer Cletus Kasady, comes to bloody life by massacring a prison's worth of guards in order to break out. As sadistic as Cletus but with none of his redeeming features, the Carnage symbiote murders and eats dozens of innocents on the streets of San Francisco, including those who plead they have innocent families, and a priest it munches for a cheap power-up, and it gleefully intends to slaughter the rest of San Francisco. In the climax, the symbiote tries to murder its "father" Venom alongside Eddie's ex-girlfriend Anne, and callously attempts to kill Cletus's beloved partner-in-crime Frances "Shriek" Barrison out of sheer annoyance with her powers and the effect they have on it.
• Contested Sequel: While one half of critics enjoy the Denser and Wackier tone of this film, the other half that preferred the more serious tone don't like that this movie did a full 180 regarding the tone feeling that it's also painfully inconsistent due to having comedy mixed with bloodless carnage by a villain ironically being called Carnage that should be more gory than it is thanks to being PG-13.
• Critic-Proof: Similar to the prior film. While not outright panned, reviews were generally average at best; currently fluctuating between either "fresh" or "rotten" on Rotten Tomatoes and is at 47/100 on Metacritic. Yet it grossed over $90 million domestic in its opening weekend, the largest opening weekend of any film released during the COVID-19 Pandemic up to then (and much higher than the similarly reviewed F9). Despite the release hurdles, Let There Be Carnage had a bigger opening weekend than the very successful first film. It ended as the fourth highest-grossing Hollywood film of the year, and the only superhero film to make more money was Venom's source material. The film has also been warmly recieved by fans of the character as well as the LGBT Fanbase. Though MCU purists and those who wanted to see a more evil and serious Venom, instead of a campy anti-hero, were not as positive.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Venom messily scarfing down his own spawn as it makes terrified shrieking sounds? Not funny. Venom remarking that his own son tastes awful shortly afterwards? Absolutely hilarious.
• He's Just Hiding: The bell falling down on Shriek just made it ambiguous enough that the character could still be alive. Director Andy Serkis himself even said that a return could actually happen.
• Ho Yay: A debatable example, if only because it's not clear if Venom and Eddie's interactions are this or an intended Interspecies Romance (Venom being a sexless, genderless alien blob of tar who takes on his host's voice and body makes the distinction between a close friend and a romantic partner very fuzzy if not nonexistent). Their overall dynamic is that of a bickering couple, complete with a mid-movie temporary break-up, leading to many critics describing the film as a romantic comedy. Venom outright says that he loves Eddie in the final scene, and director Andy Serkis has stated that their fight in their apartment was "a couple of lovers breaking up." Dan also comments that they need couples counseling. This is in keeping with the 616 continuity, in which Eddie has explicitly compared his symbiote to a lover (as has Cletus).
• Inferred Holocaust: No mention is made about the fate of the numerous temporary hosts Venom infected at the rave, or whether or not they survived.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • "Venom’s hiding from paying child support." ^ExplanationIn the second trailer, Venom has an Oh, Crap! moment upon seeing Carnage, and retreats back into Eddie. Many fans joked that this was the reason since Carnage is canonically Venom’s spawn. The film itself actually plays this up more by having Venom have that Oh, Crap! moment immediately after Carnage calls Venom his father.
  • Venom mic drop. ^Explanation A gif of Venom wearing neon arm bands all over his body and dropping a mic with a huge smile on his face began running rampant across the internet due to how ridiculously hilarious it is.
  • Venom roasting people. ^Explanation A few days before the movie was set to release, the Venom Twitter account offered to roast Twitter users if they agreed to do so. Indeed, it obliged. Jokes about Venom actually roasting people also became popular to make in wake of that.
    • Is that your girlfriend or your sister? ^ExplanationOne particular roast had Venom make this joke about a user's profile picture. Noteworthy as the user in question closed their account not long after.
  • Fans have taken to posting screencaps of negative reviews of the film and pointing out that they only make the movie sound more appealing. (Pretty much any instance of the movie being called goofy or stupid will be met with "Good!" from the franchise's fans, since the over-the-top silliness is a decent chunk of the appeal for most of them.)
  • Venom freaking out on seeing Carnage by saying "Oh shit, that is a red one" is often edited, replacing Carnage with the Tobey Maguire incarnation of Spider-Man (occasionally saying "You're Trash, Brock") and changing Venom's line to "Oh shit, that is a Bully one!"
  • Hey Carnage, did you know Candice? ^Explanation A 4-panel webcomic where Asuka attempts to trick Carnage with a Candice joke only for Carnage to remind her of her mother hanging herself, then cutting to a picture of Asuka with a shocked expression on her face before cutting to a poster of Let There Be Carnage.
• Nausea Fuel: When Cletus transforms into Carnage, instead of being enveloped like what Venom does with Eddie, his body distorts, due to Carnage being an extension of Cletus.
• Pandering to the Base: Some fans feel the film is hellbent on appealing to fans of lighthearted superhero comedies and Ho Yay-filled queer romance/buddy movies (which the first film only had mild undertones of at points), claiming that even Venom's voice sounds nowhere near as imposing as it did in the first film.
• Questionable Casting:
  • While trailers for the film did win over some, some people still aren't entirely on board with Woody Harrelson as Cletus Kasady / Carnage, with his portrayal of the character seen in promotional material to be very off-putting compared to the comics as well as complaints that Harrelson is too old to play Cletus, who is usually in his late 20’s to mid 30’s in the comics. Harrelson was 58 when he filmed his role.
  • Some were baffled at the prospect of Andy Serkis of all people helming this film. While Serkis has been involved with Marvel movies before, him actually directing a film instead of starring in it made many fans do a double-take — but to be fair, he'd already directed two feature films (as well as second unit work for The Hobbit series) before this one, so it's not as though he didn't have the experience for it.
• Salvaged Story:
  • Woody Harrelson's wig in The Stinger for the first film was derided as Narm, looking too vividly colored and fake for the scene. Harrelson has shorter hair in the shots he's shown in, looking more realistic and allowing Cletus to look more appropriately freakish.
  • The first film got some criticism for rushing the bonding between Eddie and Venom, with the latter just declaring out of nowhere he likes Eddie so much that he’ll turn against his people. This one starts with them again at odds, leading to a much more earned reconciliation.
• Shocking Moments: The post-credits scene. Not only does it explicitly confirm a connection between Sony's Marvel Universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it also promises the first big screen meeting between Spider-Man and Venom since Spider-Man 3. This ultimately didn't end up happening, although a bit of symbiote got left behind in that universe.
• So Bad, It Was Better: While the film got overall better critic reviews than the first, a number of fans (and even critics) actually prefer the unintentional hilarity and absurdity of the first film compared to the second film's more intentionally comedic, if not inconsistent, tone. Most of these opinions state that the first film stands out in the superhero genre thanks to its So Bad, It's Good nature, while the second film is just rather So Okay, It's Average and doesn't stand out as much.
• Squick:
  • When Kasady is writing an invitation to Eddie to watch his execution, he kills a spider that crawled onto his letter and licks its blood.
  • Carnage murders a prison guard by shoving his freakishly large tongue down his victim's throat.
  • A more light-hearted example in The Stinger. After Eddie and Venom somehow end up in the MCU's universe, they see Peter Parker on television, and Venom licks the screen.
• Surprisingly Improved Sequel: Critics have been warmer to the Denser and Wackier tone of this film, leading to a Rotten Tomatoes rating of around 60% as opposed to the first movie's rating of around 30%.
• Tear Jerker: After his speech at the rave, Venom finds a quiet place away from the party, sinks down dejectedly onto the floor, and says "I wish you could have seen me tonight, Eddie...". It just makes you want to give the poor guy a hug.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: As with the previous film, Venom looks great whether he's present in full humanoid form or just as tendrils, and the few shots of Carnage are almost even better, with even his tendrils showing quick and relentless ferocity to contrast with Venom's more hulking and smooth movements.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: While Carnage fans were initially excited to see their favorite character make his Hollywood debut, the film's numerous changes to both Cletus Kasady and the Carnage symbiote's characterizations and their relationship with one another left many feeling that its version was In Name Only.
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: Many fans agree the film's biggest drawback was simply its insistence on sticking to a PG-13 rating instead of going for a hard R, when the original source material it was pulling from is especially dark and gory (Carnage is one of the most ruthless and bloodthirsty villains in all of the Spider-Man/Venom lore). However, this is a something of a misconception. In most Spider-Man and Venom titles Carnage's rampages are actually not shown in detail and stay within the bounds of what would qualify for PG-13. It's mostly only in his self-titled one-shots and series, such as Carnage: It's a Wonderful Life and Carnage: Mind Bomb (both titles notably lack Spidey or Venom), where Carnage is truly let loose in his depiction. That being said, Maximum Carnage and the newer titles most definitely had blood and gore galore.

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